Daily Life in Medieval Times
PRIMESOCIAL STUDIES
Teacher’s Guide
Skills & Strategies
Anchor Comprehension Strategy
• Identify main idea and supporting details
Essential Understanding*
The concept of citizenship developed at different
times in different parts of the world and was
influenced by different social, political, and
economic factors.
Social Studies Objectives
•Understand how people of different medieval
cultures related to their society
•Identify the similarities and differences in the
structures of medieval societies in Asia and Europe
Metacognitive Strategies
• Ask questions
• Determine text importance
Content Vocabulary
•Glossary, page 46
Level X/60
Vocabulary Strategy**
•Use context clues to determine word meaning
Word Study
• Word origins
Language Forms and Functions
• Preposition (in) used for time
Writing Connection
• How to write a biography, page 44
Graphic Features Focus
• Maps and time lines
Related Resources
•Daily Life in Medieval Times Interactive
Whiteboard Edition
• Comprehension Strategy Assessments
• Comprehension Question Card
• Comprehension Power Tool Flip Chart
• ExC-ELL Vocabulary Strategies Card**
Level Q/40
*Essential Questions for each chapter drive the unit of study. These questions encourage students to
think critically about the big ideas, or essential understandings, and to formulate further questions
for inquiry. Students who have read the text with comprehension should be able to demonstrate
their understanding through discussion and through the Putting It All Together activities at the end
of each chapter.
**If you are using this text with ExC-ELL students, please refer to the ExC-ELL Vocabulary Strategies Card.
B
e n c h m a r k
E
d u c a t i o n
C
o m p a n y
Introduce the Book
Make Connections/Build Background Write a Biography: Introduce and Plan
Build Social Studies Concepts and Vocabulary
•Read the PRIME Questions on the inside front cover
of the book.
• Say: Imagine you are a serf, or peasant farmer, living
on the manor of a powerful land baron in medieval
Europe. From sunrise to sunset, you labor in the wheat
fields. Your reward for this is a small portion of food and
protection from invading tribes. You have no personal
freedom. You have no rights. You cannot learn to read or
write. You cannot marry—or even go to town—without
asking permission. How does this compare with your
lifestyle today? How is it similar? How is it different?
•Ask students to write responses to the question in their
social studies journals. Then encourage students to share
their responses. Use responses to create a Venn diagram
that compares the life of a medieval serf with their own
lives. Post the responses as an anchor chart to support
students’ use of concept terms throughout the unit. Feel
free to add new words to this chart as you read the book.
Preview the Book
•Invite students to flip through the book and view photos
(or project the whiteboard version of the text and
preview the pages together).
•Have students turn to the Table of Contents and read the
chapter heads and Essential Questions for each chapter.
•Invite students to read the book description and “About
the Author” blurb on the back cover of the book. Ask:
How do these features help you figure out what you’ll
learn about in this book?
•Think/pair/write/share: Focusing on the Table of
Contents, ask students to work in small groups to
generate a list of questions they have about daily life in
medieval times that they would like to find the answers
to as they read. Ask each group to share some of their
questions.
Read Aloud the Book Introduction
• Ask: What motivations did medieval cultures have for
invading another culture? How did people in medieval
times protect themselves and defend their societies from
invaders? What changes might an invading society make
to the native society?
•Have students turn to the pictures of invading Vikings on
pages 4–5 (or display this page on the whiteboard). Ask
students to describe what they observe in the pictures.
•Read aloud the text on page 5 or listen and follow along
with the talking e-book in the whiteboard edition.
•Invite students to think of how life in medieval times was
different from life today. Explain that students will learn
more about medieval Europe, as well as medieval China
and Japan, during this unit of study.
•Have students turn to pages 44–45. Read the writing
feature and model together.
• Say: A biography is the story of a person’s life written by
someone else. Whose biography would you like to read?
Why? Where could we find examples of biographies?
(Allow responses.) This week, you’re going to write
the biography of a person in history. Can you think of
someone you’d like to know more about? It could be
someone who lived long ago or someone from more
current times. A biography can also be about a person
who is still living. Those biographies tell about the
person’s life so far.
•Generate ideas and conduct research. Have students work
in small groups to discuss a person in history who would
be interesting to write about. If students have Internet
access, use reputable sites that have many biographies
that students may review.
•Review models together and discuss the consistent
characteristics of a biography. Create a biography
characteristics anchor chart that includes the details below.
Characteristics of a Biography
•Tells about the life of a real person
•Is written by someone other than the subject
•Gives specific details and/or anecdotes about the
person’s life
•Provides information about the person’s challenges,
accomplishments, and lasting legacy
•Ask students to use the Biography Planning Guide (BLM
1) to collect information about the person they choose to
write about. Remind them of the sources from which they
can gather information.
•Confer with individual students to support their research.
Are they using the anchor chart to organize their data
collection and writing? Are they seeking information from
appropriate sources?
Writing a Biography
Questions to Guide Research Sources of Information
• W
hat did he or she
do? (Why is this person
important?)
• W
hat are this person’s basic
life facts? (date/place of
birth, early life, education,
accomplishments, death)
• W
hat are this person’s
personal qualities? (what
are/were they like?)
• encyclopedias
• information books
• articles
• other biographies
• Internet
• p
rimary sources
(diaries, letters, speeches,
photographs, images,
artifacts)
• H
ow has this person
impacted or shaped
the world?
2
Daily Life in Medieval Times
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole
or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-4509-4751-0
Chapter 1: Medieval Europe
Before Reading
Share Essential Vocabulary Spanish/English Cognates
Make It Comprehensible for ELs
Use the following strategies to help ELs understand
concepts and acquire academic language.
•As you introduce concepts and vocabulary, use images
from the book or from the image bank on the interactive
whiteboard edition to illustrate concepts and terms.
•Pair ELs with fluent English speakers during small-group
or partner discussions and activities.
•Model the use of academic sentence frames to support
ELs’ vocabulary and language development. (See
Suggested Academic Sentence Frames for each chapter.)
Discuss the Essential Question: How did people in
medieval Europe relate to the state and to their society?
• Pose a question: Ask students to turn to page 7.
Read the Essential Question together. Ask: What role
might the state have played in the daily lives of medieval
people? How did medieval people organize their
societies? What were some of the major concerns and
challenges for people who lived in medieval times?
• Open discussion: Have students think about and discuss
the questions you asked them. As a class, generate
a list of answer predictions on chart paper or on the
whiteboard. Also record any additional questions
students have about this topic as discussion occurs.
Discuss the Essential Vocabulary: Use Context Clues (Direct
Definitions, Descriptions) to Determine Word Meaning
ExC-ELL users, please refer to the ExC-ELL Vocabulary
Strategies Card.
•Point out the Essential Vocabulary on page 7.
• Ask: What do you already know about each of these
words? Take a moment to jot down what you know in
your social studies journal. Have students draw a graphic
organizer like the one below in their journal to evaluate
their knowledge of the Essential Vocabulary words.
Words I Know
Words I Think
I Know
Words I
Don’t Know
•Invite students to share and discuss their graphic
organizer with a partner or the whole group. Model
using context clues and direct definitions to
determine word meanings: If I’m unsure of a word or
it’s unfamiliar, I can use context clues around the word
to help me with the meaning. Sometimes there’s a direct
definition. On page 8, I see the term vassals. Looking for
nearby clues, I find a definition. Vassals were servants.
• Partner search: Have students work with a partner to
find the Essential Vocabulary words in Chapter 1 and
determine what context clues or definitions are available
for each word. Have students record the direct definition
of each word in their social studies journals.
•Reinforce the importance of using both context clues and
direct definitions and descriptions to determine word
meanings.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
If you have ELs whose first language is Spanish, share
the cognates below to support academic vocabulary.
Be aware, however, that students may not understand
the meaning of all these terms in their first language
either. artisan/un artesano (page 14), citizenship/
la ciudadanía (page 7), empire/el imperio (page 7),
feudalism/el feudalismo (page 8), pagan/el pagano
(page 11), serf/el siervo (page 9), vassal/el vasallo
(page 8)
Preview Text and Graphic Features: Maps and Time Lines
•Ask students to turn to page 8. Point to the map in the
top left corner.
• Ask: What do we call this feature and what does it show
us? (Allow responses.) This map shows the areas of the
Western and Eastern Roman Empire as well as the routes
of invading barbarian peoples.
• Ask: Why do you think this graphic features is included
here? How can it help you as a reader? (Allow responses.)
•Ask students to turn to page 16. Point to the time line at
the bottom of the page.
• Ask: What do we call this feature and what does it
show? (Allow responses.) This time line indicates the
major historical events that happened in medieval Europe
between the years 800 B.C.E. and 1500 C.E.
• Ask: Why do you think this graphic features is included
here? How can they help you as a reader? (Allow
responses.)
•Help students understand that using maps and time lines
allows us to understand where and when in the course
of history certain events happened. By looking at the
time line, for example, we can better understand that the
Middle Ages began not long after the fall of the Roman
Empire.
• Say: As you read this book, pay attention to the maps
and time lines. These help add to your understanding
of events.
Activate Metacognitive Strategies:
Determine Text Importance
•Remind students that good readers identify the most
important parts of a text as a strategy to help them
understand the text.
• Say: Some details in a text are more important than
others. Also, some words are more important than other
words. Let me show you how to figure out which words
and information are most important to this text about
feudalism in medieval times.
• Model: Read aloud page 8. Say: As I read this page, I
know that I need to pay special attention to information
that relates to the heading and to the boldfaced words.
These two features help me focus on the important parts
of the text. One of the headings on page 8 is “Troubled
Times.” I also see that the term feudalism is a boldfaced
word in the text. The most important information should
relate to this term. The second paragraph under that
heading describes feudalism as a system in which all
the land was owned by the king with parts of it being
leased to servants. The other paragraphs on page 9
provide examples of the societal structures of feudalism.
The examples help me visualize how feudalism worked
but aren’t as important as the information that directly
describes what feudalism was.
Daily Life in Medieval Times
3
Chapter 1 (continued)
Set a Purpose for Reading
• Say: As we read this book, we’re going to complete
an anticipation guide. In an anticipation guide, we
determine what we know about each chapter before
we read it. Then, after we read, we check our initial
understanding against what the author told us.
•Distribute the Anticipation Guide (BLM 2). Invite students
to complete the “Me” sections of the guide for Chapter 1
to identify main ideas they already know and to set a
purpose for reading.
Read the Chapter
Choose the option below that meets the needs of your
students. Prompt students to use the metacognitive strategy
of determining text importance to help them identify main
ideas and supporting details in the chapter.
• Read with a Teacher. Meet with small groups of
students to focus on content-comprehension strategies
as you read the text together. Students can read silently,
or you can do a shared read-aloud of the text. Use the
Anticipation Guide to focus on key concepts.
• Read with a Partner. Have students read the text with
a partner and complete the “Author” column of the
Anticipation Guide together.
• Read Independently. Assign students the chapter to
read on their own before the next class period. Students
should complete the “Author” column of the Anticipation
Guide for the chapter.
After Reading
• Model compare and contrast. Read aloud page 11. Say:
The first paragraph on this page says that after the fall of
the Roman Empire, Christianity and the role of the church
in people’s lives grew in power. The rest of the information
on the page provides details that support that main idea.
The main idea for this page is clearly stated in the first
paragraph.
Vocabulary/Word Study: Word Origins
•Write the word citizen on chart paper or on the
whiteboard.
•Have students turn to page 7 and locate the “Root of the
Meaning” feature. Point out that citizen comes from the
Latin word civitas, which means “citizenship.”
•Say: The English language uses many terms that originally
come from other languages. Knowing the roots and origins
of words can help explain the term’s meaning.
•Make an anchor chart like the one below to review words
in Chapter 1 and find the Latin, Greek, and other roots and
language origins for the essential vocabulary.
•Ask students to work with a partner and use a dictionary or
reputable online etymology resources such as OED online or
www.etymonline.com to find the word origins of essential
words in Chapter 1.
•Invite groups to share their work. Record their examples on
the anchor chart and post it to support their reading.
Word
artisan
Discuss Key Concepts
•Invite students to share the results of their anticipation
guides. What questions did they ask for Chapter 1? Were
they able to determine the most important parts of the
text? Did students use headings, topic sentences, and
boldfaced words to form their questions? Were they able
to answer their questions based on their reading?
Suggested Academic Sentence Frame
• Before reading the chapter, I thought ________. After
reading, I now understand that ________.
Model Comprehension Strategies: Identify Main Idea and
Supporting Details
• Explain. As you read, you are trying to understand the
most important (main) ideas. Sometimes the author states
the main idea. At other times, however, you have to use
the details he or she provides to infer the main idea. Let
me show you how.
4
Daily Life in Medieval Times
chivalry
citizenship
empire
Origin
from Italian artesano, which
is from Latin verb artire “to
instruct in the arts”
from Old French chevalerie
which means “knighthood,
chivalry, nobility, cavalry, art of
war”
Old French. citeien (citydweller) from cite (city) which
comes from that Latin root
civitas (rights of citizenship)
imperare, Latin (to rule or
command)
Meaning
a skilled
craftsperson
a code of behavior followed
by knights
rights and
responsibilities
for members of
a society
a state and the
territories that
it rules
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Language Forms and Functions:
Preposition (in) Used for Time
•Read the following sentences from Chapter 1, page 8.
On-level: In the late 200s C.E., the Roman Empire was
divided into western and eastern empires with separate
rulers. Bridges: In the late 200s C.E., the Roman Empire was
divided in half.
• Explain: The author uses several sentences in the book
that have prepositional phrases with in to indicate a
point in time. The phrases can refer to specific times,
days, dates, time periods, and so on. In this sentence, the
preposition in appears before a time period.
• Practice: Look at page 11. We can find another example
of the preposition in that indicates time. What is the
example? (On-level: Roman emperors made Christianity
the official religion in the 300s C.E.; Bridges: In 300 C.E.,
Christianity became the main religion)
•Have students work with a partner to look through
Chapter 1 to find additional examples of in used to
indicate time.
• Ask students to share the examples they found. Record
the examples of in used for time on the whiteboard or
chart.
Share the Cartoonist’s Notebook
• Have students’ read the Cartoonist’s Notebook spread
on pages 18–19 independently, with partners, or as a
whole group. (You may wish to project the spread on the
whiteboard.)
• Open discussion: Ask students to think about and
discuss the following discussion questions.
• What should the citizens of Coventry do?
• What might happen if they go to work in the fields
together?
• What will happen if they don’t?
Differentiated Collaborative Learning
Invite partners or small groups to complete one of
the “Putting It All Together” activities on page 17
to demonstrate their understanding of the essential
information. Note that the activity choices accommodate
learners with a range of learning styles.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Write a Biography: Draft
•Tell students they will be using their Biography
Planning Guides (BLM 1) to begin drafting a biography
of the person they chose.
•Discuss organization. Remind students that biographies
must be factual accounts of a person’s life. Say: The
goal for your biography is to be clear and precise so
that readers will understand who he or she was, why
the person is important, and how he or she affected
the world. As you organize your writing, be sure that
the content stays on topic and has accurate details that
fit where they’re placed.
•Conference with students as they complete their drafts.
Use the Biography Checklist (BLM 3) to draw students’
attention to characteristics they need to include. Focus
on how students have organized their ideas and the
voice of the writer. Is their information adequate and
accurate? Do they have a good beginning that grabs
readers’ attention and makes them want to read more?
Is the biography organized in a logical, sequential way?
Does the ending bring readers to a good conclusion, or
does it leave them hanging?
•Pair students for peer conferencing.
Home Connections: Constructed Response
Journal Writing
In their social studies journals, have students answer the
text-dependent comprehension questions for Chapter
1 on BLM 4. These questions, at four text-dependent
comprehension levels, help prepare students for the
questions they will encounter on standardized contentarea reading assessments. To model strategies for
answering text-dependent comprehension questions,
use the information and prompts provided on the
Comprehension Power Tool Flip Chart. Answers for each
question on BLM 4, along with additional questions, can
be found on the Comprehension Question Card.
Daily Life in Medieval Times
5
Chapter 2: Medieval China
Before Reading
Make It Comprehensible for ELs
Use the following strategies to help ELs understand
concepts and acquire academic language.
•As you introduce concepts and vocabulary, use images
from the book or from the image bank on the interactive
whiteboard edition to illustrate concepts and terms.
•Pair ELs with fluent English speakers during small-group
or partner discussions and activities.
•Model the use of academic sentence frames to support
ELs’ vocabulary and language development. (See
Suggested Academic Sentence Frames for each chapter.)
Discuss the Essential Questions: How did people in
medieval China relate to the state and to their society?
• Ask students to turn to page 21. Read the Essential
Question together.
• Ask: How might life in medieval China be different from
life in medieval Europe? What role might the state have
played in the daily lives of the medieval people of China?
How was society organized in medieval China?
• Have students work independently in their social studies
journal to respond to the questions you posed.
Discuss the Essential Vocabulary: Use Context Clues
(Descriptions) to Determine Word Meanings
•Point out the Essential Vocabulary on page 21.
• Say: Writers often use descriptions to help the reader
determine a word’s meaning. Descriptive words and
phrases give even more information about a word and
can help the reader visualize what a word means.
• Model: For example, on page 22, I see the term filial
piety. The paragraph describes the relationship between
parents and children in ancient China. This description
helps me understand that filial piety refers to the respect
that children were expected to show to their parents.
•Have students write each of the vocabulary words from
Chapter 2 in their social studies journals and then work in
pairs to find the descriptive context clues used to define
each word.
•Bring students back together and have them share some
of their descriptive definitions.
Share Spanish/English Cognates for Essential Vocabulary
If you have ELs whose first language is Spanish, share the
cognates below to support academic vocabulary. Be aware,
however, that students may not understand the meaning
of all these social studies words in their first language
either. bureaucracy/la burocracia (page 23), dynasty/la
dinastía (page 21), filial piety/piedad filial (page 22)
Preview Text and Graphic Features: Maps and Time Lines
•Ask students to turn to page 20. Point to the map at the
bottom of the page.
•Ask students to turn to page 30. Point to the time line at
the bottom of the page.
• Ask: What do we call these graphic features? Why do you
think the author included them? (Allow responses.)
•Remind students that using maps and time lines allows us
6
Daily Life in Medieval Times
to understand where and when in the course of history
certain events happened.
• Say: As you read this chapter, pay attention to the maps
and time lines. These help add to your understanding of
events.
Activate Metacognitive Strategies: Determine Text
Importance, Ask Questions
• Review: Remind students that when they read Chapter 1,
they learned about determining text importance.
•Say: Determining important parts of the text requires
you to look at headings, key words, topic sentences, and
graphic illustrations to determine what key concepts to
focus on.
• Explain: Tell students that asking questions before,
during, and after reading is another good reading
strategy. When asking questions before reading, students
focus on what they will be learning and on making
predictions about the text. Asking questions during
reading helps them to clarify and rethink what they are
reading. Asking questions after reading will confirm
predictions, answer questions they asked, and help
students draw conclusions and summarize what was read.
• Model: Before I start reading Chapter 2, I see it’s about
medieval China. I don’t know much about medieval
China, but I can predict that life there had some
similarities and differences to life in medieval Europe.
These predictions will help me learn more about medieval
China as I begin reading.
• Ask: How will asking questions before, during, and
after reading help you understand what you’re reading?
(Allow responses.)
• Say: As you read Chapter 2, remember to ask questions
about the text as you are reading. Also look for the key
points in the text that help you determine what’s most
important to remember.
Set a Purpose for Reading
•Ask students to return to the Anticipation Guide (BLM 2)
and continue to take notes to record and summarize key
points as they read Chapter 2.
Read the Chapter
Choose the option below that meets the needs of your
students. Prompt students to use the metacognitive
strategies of determining text importance and asking
questions to help them identify the main ideas and
supporting details in the chapter.
• Read with a Teacher: Meet with small groups of
students to focus on content-comprehension strategies
as you read the text together. Students can read silently,
or you can do a shared read-aloud of the text. Use the
Anticipation Guide to focus on key concepts.
• Read with a Partner: Have students read the text with
a partner and complete the “Author” column of the
Anticipation Guide together.
• Read Independently: Assign students the chapter
to read on their own before the next class period.
Students should complete the “Author” column of the
Anticipation Guide for the chapter.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
After Reading
Choose from the activities below to extend students’ social
studies and content-literacy skills.
Discuss Key Concepts
Return to the anchor chart that you created before reading
these two chapters. Invite students to share the results of
their Anticipation Guides and any new information they
learned while reading. Students can use their double-entry
journals to recall details. Were students able to determine
the most important parts of the text? Did students use
headings, topic sentences, and boldfaced words to form
their questions? Were they able to answer their questions
based on their reading?
Suggested Academic Language Frame
• I thought ________. I learned that ________.
Practice Comprehension Strategies: Identify Main Idea and
Supporting Details
• Ask: What is a stated main idea? What is an unstated
main idea? (Allow responses.)
• Guide practice: Ask students to turn to page 22 and
reread it with you. Ask: What is the main idea for this
section, and what details support it? Work with students
to develop a main idea statement for the page and
identify the details that support it.
•Model: As I read this page, I see that it is all about the
teachings of Confucius. That’s the main idea. I see that it
is stated in the heading for that page.
Vocabulary/Word Study: Word Origins
• Remind students that the English language uses many
terms that originally came from other languages.
Knowing the roots and origins of words can help explain
the term’s meaning.
•Write the word empire on chart paper or on the
whiteboard and tell students that it comes from the Latin
word imperare, which means “to command.” Model for
students how they can use a dictionary to find the roots
of many words.
•Write the following words on chart paper or on the
whiteboard: dynasty, reign, society.
•Tell students to copy each word into their social studies
journals and then use a dictionary to find the root and
the meaning for each word. Have them share their
results.
•Ask pairs of students to share the sentences they
generated. Write the sentences on chart paper or on
the whiteboard and model correct usage as necessary.
Vocabulary/Word Study: Prefixes and Suffixes
•Explain that in addition to knowing the roots and word
origins of terms, another tool for decoding a word’s
meaning is identifying common suffixes and prefixes.
• Say: Prefixes are word parts that attach to the beginnings
of words and suffixes are word parts that attach to the
end of a word. Prefixes and suffixes can change the
meaning of the root word.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
• Have students create an anchor chart for prefixes and
suffixes and have them find examples of each in the text.
•Model: For example, on page 12, I saw the word
crusader. I know that the suffix -er means “someone
who takes part in,” so I can assume that the word
crusader means someone who participated in, or took
part in, the Crusades. I can then use a dictionary to
confirm that definition. What prefixes and suffixes can
you find in this book?
Prefix/Suffix
-er , -or
Meaning
Example
one who takes leader, thinker,
part in
emperor, doctor
Language Forms and Functions:
Preposition (in) Used for Time
•Read the following sentences from Chapter 2, page 21.
•On-level: In 618 C.E., rulers of the Tang dynasty unified
China after a period of disunity.
•Bridges: In 618 C.E., rulers of the Tang Dynasty unified
China.
• Explain: We’ve talked about how the preposition in can
be used to show time. For example, this prepositional
phrase states the date when a specific historical event
occurred.
•Have students work in pairs to find additional examples
of prepositional phrases that use in to show location.
Have them record these in their social studies journals.
Then ask students to share their prepositional phrases.
Suggested Language Frame
• ________ happened in ________.
Differentiated Collaborative Learning
Invite partners or small groups to complete one of
the “Putting It All Together” activities on page 31
to demonstrate their understanding of the essential
information.
Write a Biography: Edit and Revise
•Based on your observations of students’ writing, conduct
appropriate mini-lessons to help them improve.
• Say: An important trait to use in writing a biography is
word choice. Your biography should show enthusiasm for
the person you are writing about. Using vivid language
helps the audience picture what you are saying about the
person you chose.
• Ask:
• Did you use powerful, accurate, and descriptive words?
• Did you use appropriate voice to convey your opinion
of the person?
• Did you present sufficient details to support key
points?
• Did you use varied sentence structure and good
transitions between paragraphs?
• Did you use correct punctuation, spelling, and
grammar?
Home Connections: Constructed Response Journal Writing
In their social studies journals, have students answer the
text-dependent comprehension questions for Chapter 2
on BLM 4.
Daily Life in Medieval Times
7
Chapter 3: Medieval Japan
Before Reading
Make It Comprehensible for ELs
Use the following strategies to help ELs understand
concepts and acquire academic language.
•As you introduce concepts and vocabulary, use images
from the book or from the image bank on the interactive
whiteboard edition to illustrate concepts and terms.
•Pair ELs with fluent English speakers during small-group
or partner discussions and activities.
•Model the use of academic sentence frames to support
ELs’ vocabulary and language development. (See
Suggested Academic Sentence Frames for each chapter.)
Discuss the Essential Question: How did people in medieval
Japan relate to the state and to their society?
•Ask students to turn to page 33. Read the Essential
Questions together.
• Open discussion: Have students think about and discuss
the questions you asked them. As a class, generate a list
of answer predictions to add to the chart. Also record any
additional questions students have about this topic as
discussion occurs.
Discuss the Essential Vocabulary: Use Context Clues (Direct
Definitions and Descriptions) to Determine Word Meanings
•Point out the Essential Vocabulary on page 33.
•Have students record the Essential Vocabulary words in
their social studies journals on the “Words I Know” chart.
•Remind students they have been using direct definitions
and descriptions to determine what a word means.
• Ask: How can you recognize a direct definition? How can
you recognize a descriptive definition? (Allow responses.)
• Model: On page 34, I see the term clan. The paragraph
in which the word occurs describes a clan as being like an
big/extended family. On page 38, I see the term daimyo.
The text defines a daimyo as a lord.
•Ask: What context clue is used on this page to define the
Essential Vocabulary words? (samurai, Bushido—direct
definitions).
Share Spanish/English Cognates for Essential Vocabulary
If you have ELs whose first language is Spanish, share the
cognates below to support academic vocabulary. Be aware,
however, that students may not understand the meaning of
all these social studies words in their first language either.
• bushido/el bushido (page 38)
• clan/el clan (page 34)
• daimyo/el daimyo (page 38)
• samurai/el samurái (page 38)
• shogun/el sogún (page 37)
Preview Text and Graphic Features: Maps and Time Lines
Review and Discuss Metacognitive Strategies: Determine
Text Importance, Ask Questions
• Say: We’ve been using two key strategies. One of these
strategies is determining text importance. What does this
mean? What features in a text can you use to find the
most important information? (Allow responses.) Engage
students in a discussion about how they can look at
chapter heads, subheads, boldfaced words, and graphic
features to help them figure out what information they
really need to pay attention to as they read.
• Say: The other strategy is asking questions, which helps
us focus our reading and better understand complex
information. Give some specific examples of when you
asked yourself questions as you read this book. How did
asking those questions help you? Could you have asked
yourself other questions to help you understand this
book? (Allow responses.)
Set a Purpose for Reading
•Ask students to continue using the Anticipation Guide
(BLM 2) as they read the last chapter.
Read the Chapter
Choose the option below that meets the needs of your
students. Prompt students to use the metacognitive
strategies of determining text importance and asking
questions to help them identify main ideas and supporting
details in the chapter.
• Read with a Teacher. Meet with small groups of
students to focus on content-comprehension strategies
as you read the text together. Students can read silently,
or you can do a shared read-aloud of the text. Use the
Anticipation Guide to focus on key concepts.
• Read with a Partner. Have students read the text with
a partner and complete the “Author” column of the
Anticipation Guide together.
• Read Independently. Assign students the chapter
to read on their own before the next class period.
Students should complete the “Author” column of the
Anticipation Guide for the chapter.
After Reading
Choose from the activities below to extend students’ social
studies and content-literacy skills.
Discuss Key Concepts
Have students share the results of the Anticipation Guide
(BLM 2). Were students able to write appropriate questions
based on chapter headings and subheadings? Did they
answer questions using notes, bullets, dashes, or a visual
graphic?
Suggested Academic Language Frame
•I correctly predicted that ________.
•Ask students to scan Chapter 3 and point out an example
of a map and a time line in this chapter. (pages 32–41)
• Ask: Why do you think these graphic features were
included here? How can they help you as a reader? (Allow
responses.)
8
Daily Life in Medieval Times
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Conclusion & Assessment
Review and Discuss Comprehension Strategies:
Identify Main Idea and Supporting Details
• Ask: How can you be sure you’ve identified the main idea
within a passage of text? (Allow responses.) Students
should understand that a main idea is a broad, important
concept that is supported by the details of the passage. If
there are no supporting details, it is not the main idea.
• Say: As you read, it is very important to stay focused on
the main ideas. They provide the “big pictures” in the
text. All information texts are organized around main
ideas. You can be certain you have identified a main idea
if it is supported by details.
Vocabulary/Word Study: Word Origins
•Add these word origins to the anchor chart used after
reading Chapters 1 and 2. Discuss the language of origin
and the meaning of each: ager (Latin), “field”; mont
(Latin), “mountain”; popl (Latin), “people.”
•Ask students to work independently to locate words from
Chapter 3 with these word origins. Have students record
the words in their social studies journals and define their
meanings. Allow students to share with the class.
Language Forms and Functions: Preposition (in) Used
for Time
•Read the following sentences from Chapter 3, page 35.
•On-level: In the 500s C.E., Buddhism was officially
introduced in Japan.
• Bridges: In the 500s C.E., Buddhism spread to Japan.
• Say: For these sentences, the word in is used to give us a
date.
•Have students work in pairs to find more examples of the
preposition in used for time. Possible answers: in the 800s
and 900s, In about 1009 C.E. (page 36), In the late 1100s
(page 37).
Suggested Language Frame
•In ________ , ________.
•Write the sentences on chart paper or on the whiteboard
and model correct usage as necessary.
Differentiated Collaborative Learning
Invite partners or small groups to complete one of
the “Putting It All Together” activities on page 41
to demonstrate their understanding of the essential
information.
Write a Biography: Create Final Draft
•Ask students to rewrite or type a final draft of their
biography.
• Students may refine the language, sentence structure, or
conventions.
•Conference with students regarding their publishing plans
and deadlines.
Home Connections: Constructed Response Journal Writing
In their social studies journal, have students answer the
text-dependent comprehension questions for Chapter 3
on BLM 4.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Synthesize and Assess
Use the suggestions below to synthesize the information
from the text and to evaluate and extend students’ content
knowledge, comprehension, and vocabulary knowledge.
Read-Aloud the Conclusion
Read aloud the conclusion on page 43 and invite students to
summarize the key concepts and conclusions they can draw
from the text. Encourage students to use key vocabulary
terms they have learned.
Text-Dependent Comprehension Assessment
•Review students’ answers to the text-dependent questions
for BLM 4. Support their text-dependent comprehension
strategies by answering additional questions (from the
Comprehension Question Card) as a group.
Performance-Based Assessment
•Invite students to complete the PRIME Investigations
culminating activity shown on the inside back cover of the
book. This activity provides an opportunity for students
to demonstrate their understanding of the key concepts
developed in the text.
Vocabulary Challenge
• Write each Essential Vocabulary word on an index card.
• Divide the class into three to four teams.
•Each team gets an equal number of opportunities to define
an Essential Vocabulary term and use it in a sentence.
•The team that scores the most points wins.
•Use the IWB Games Feature to assess individual
content vocabulary knowledge.
Write a Biography: Publish and Share
• Explain: Biographies can help both the writer and the
reader learn about the lives and contributions of others.
The process of researching helps the writer understand at
a deeper and personal level. For the reader, a well-written
biography offers information and insight into the person’s
life and how he or she has impacted the lives of others.
•Have students read their biographies to the class or make a
display of biographies written by the class.
Content Assessment
• Have students complete the formal Content Assessment
(BLMs 5 and 6). This assessment helps you evaluate
students’ understanding of the standards-based concepts
developed in this text. There are three test items for each
“chunk” of the text as divided in this Teacher’s Guide.
For each chapter, there are three types of questions,
representing the different kinds of questions students will
encounter on standardized content assessments.
Question Types and Explanations
• Recall. Students answer questions based on content concepts
learned from the text. Students are not allowed to look in the
book for answers.
• Application. Students must transfer their understanding of
concepts learned in the book to new, real-life situations.
• Think about it. Students must read and interpret this question
carefully using information provided in the question and
information from the book to formulate an answer.
• Cloze passage. Students demonstrate their content
knowledge by completing a short text using academic
vocabulary words. Students are scored using the answers
provided.
Daily Life in Medieval Times
9
Name _______________________________________________________
Date _________________________________
Anticipation Guide
Assessment (continued)
Before-Reading Directions: Review each statement for the chapter you are reading. Place a check mark
in the “Me” column if you agree with the statement or a minus sign if you do not agree.
After-Reading Directions: Reread each statement. Place a check mark or a minus sign in the “Author”
column. Compare your initial understanding with what you learned from the chapter. Change all
Answer
Key:
Anticipation
statements that have
a minus
sign in the author column soGuide
that they reflect the information in the chapter.
Write the page number where you found the correct information.
Me
Author
Chapter
✔
–
–
✔
✔
✔
–
✔
✔
–
✔
✔
1
1
1
Statements
Page
The western Roman Empire ended in 476 C.E.
8
X
In the 1800s C.E., lords set up a system called feudalism.
In the 800s C.E., lords set up a system called feudalism.
X
Serfs made up the highest class in society.
8
9
Serfs made up the lowest class in society.
Knights followed a code of chivalry.
9
2
People in medieval China did not share the European idea
of citizenship.
21
2
Medieval Chinese society surpassed Europe in knowledge
and achievements.
24
1
2
2
3
3
3
3
XXX
Chinese culture and society followed ideas of fuedalism.
Chinese culture and society followed Confucian ideas.
Most Chinese were farmers.
23
28
Japan’s island location kept it separate and isolated.
XXXX
The Japanese followed a religion based on Christianity.
The Japanese followed a religion based on nature (Shinto).
33
35
The Japanese owed their loyalty to their clan, or uji.
34
Under the shoguns, a feudal system developed in Japan.
37
Answer Key: Comprehension Questions
DaiLy LifE in MEDiEvaL TiMEs
BLM 2
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
1. women, the weak, and the church (page 9)
2. T ribes of barbarians attacked the Roman Empire and
Romans could not defend their borders.
3. I t was not successful; Clues/evidence: By 1291, the Turks
had reclaimed all of the crusade sites. (page 12)
4. Confucius (page 22)
5C
onfucianism: Orderly system of ethics and moral behavior;
Taoism: lived in harmony with nature; Buddhism: give up
worldly things to reach nirvana.
6. E
ven though the three religions focused on good things,
the human nature of power and control still dominated
people’s actions; Clues/evidence: In every relationship, one
person was superior. Women were thought to be inferior.
Buddhism appealed to many people because everyone is
equal. But the idea of equality upset the nobles. The nobles
liked the order and class structure of Confucian ideas.
Taoist emperors burned down Buddhist temples. (pages 22
and 27).
7. Japan’s location kept it separate. (page 33)
8. T hey had many talents. Clues/evidence: Samurai were
excellent swordsmen. They were also skilled archers. Many
samurai were artists and scholars. (page 38)
9. description and compare/contrast
Answer Key: Content Assessment
1. Kings owned land, but they needed people to defend
it. People needed land to live on and protection from
invading tribes
2. C
hristianity had become the main religion of the Roman
Empire. When the Roman Empire fell, the Church’s power
and wealth grew. Every person had to live by the laws of
the Church and pay taxes to the Church. In return, people
were promised a place in heaven. Most peasants could
not understand Latin, or even read, so they were quick to
believe what the priests told them.
3. A
round 1100 C.E., the increase of trade led lords to begin
to grant town charters that gave people the right to
leave the manor and live freely as citizens in towns. Towns
10
daily life in medieval times
Y06231_TG_DailyMedLife.indd 10
and cities began to grow with trade, and merchants
and artisans joined guilds and formed a powerful middle
class. The guild members became leaders in government.
As time passed feudalism faded away and citizenship
re-emerged.
4. filial piety
5. C
onfucius believed that men should get jobs based on
their merit or talent—not wealth. The exams determined
who got the best jobs based on skills, not wealth, which
meant peasants could rise up through the ranks.
6. The Chinese were the first to develop paper, the printing
press, and bound books. This allowed them to share ideas
and information (such as farming techniques to grow more
food) with more people. They invented paper money as
currency, which made trade easier and more efficient.
They also developed the compass, which allowed people
to navigate. They invented such important goods as tea, silk
cloth, and gunpowder.
7. their clan, or uji
8. M
edieval Europe: lord, knight, serf, chivalry; feudalism
began early and ended early (800s–1200s). Both: feudal
system, code of honor for warriors; later feudalism faded
away and the merchant class rose to power. Medieval
Japan: daimyo, samurai, peasants; feudalism began late
and lasted many centuries (1100s–1800s)
9. Peasants worked hard at farming, ate very little, and
dressed simply in whatever they could afford. They could
not read or write, and they had little or no free time. Heian
nobles lived a life of leisure and luxury. They had time to
practice perfect manners. They lived in an elegant palace
set in lovely gardens. Court officials gossiped or played
music. Generally, only noblemen and monks could read
and write. At Heian, ladies were also well educated. Some
could read and write both Japanese and Chinese. Women
wrote poems, letters, diaries, and stories.
10. A
fter the fall of Rome in the late 400s, trade and town life
and the idea of citizenship declined in western Europe
and a system of feudalism developed. In this system, a
lord granted land to a vassal. In exchange, the vassal
promised loyalty, military support, and other services. The
lord’s manor provided its own food and other needs. By
the 1100s trade brought about a revival of town life, and
the idea of citizenship became important again.
By the medieval period, China was already a powerful
empire that controlled much of East Asia. Chinese
society was based on the ideas developed by the
scholar Confucius centuries earlier. An examination
system based on Confucian ideas helped create a welleducated class of civil servants. Medieval Chinese cities
were probably the largest in the world. Trade flourished,
and technology was very advanced. Mongols from
central Asia conquered China in the 1200s, but a native
Chinese dynasty regained power in 1368.
Early Japanese society was organized in clans, a kind of
extended family. The Yamato clan grew powerful and
became Japan’s imperial family. By the 1100s, real power
shifted to local land-owning lords called daimyo. A
feudal system developed. The warrior class, the samurai,
were fiercely loyal to their lords. Shogun, or military
leaders, controlled Japan until the 1800s.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
3/25/11 10:35:28 AM